Vehicles have a restraint system electronic system that on the one hand is made up of peripheral acceleration or pressure sensors and on the other hand is made up of a central airbag control device that contains at least one two-axis high-g acceleration sensor for central crash recognition. Using such a high-g acceleration sensor, strong accelerations can be detected, such as those that occur during a vehicle collision. Using the high-g acceleration sensor, the control device makes the triggering decision, also taking into account information from the peripheral sensors, typically as plausibility.